WASHINGTON — Abby Martin, aleading alternative journalist, accuses Hillary Clinton of being a political shapeshifter who is “morphing her positions to try to capture support” from supporters of Sen. Bernie Sanders.

In an April 17 episode of “The Empire Files,” the investigative news program Martin hosts on TeleSUR English, she promised to expose “what Hillary Clinton really represents,” devoting the entire half-hour program to exploring the presidential hopeful’s history and corporate-driven agenda.

Under pressure from Sanders’ unexpected success in his campaign, Clinton has attempted to position herself as an anti-establishment, anti-Wall Street candidate, as well as the best choice to oppose Donald Trump’s open racism and Islamophobia.

However, Martin warned: “Far from being a candidate of the people, she’s the top pick of corporations to do the job of every president: to be the CEO of the empire.”

Martin suggested that Clinton is a candidate tailor-made for the modern Democratic Party, thanks to the superdelegate system which allows the party to “vote against the people’s will.”

Many of the 712 Democratic superdelegates are industry lobbyists, and those same industries are often among the most generous donors to Clinton’s campaign and the Clinton Foundation, the controversial nonprofit operated by Hillary and her husband, former President Bill Clinton.

“Bill and Hillary are quick to exploit themselves for corporate loot,” Martin said, adding that Hillary’s token objections to Wall Street’s unchecked power over American politics shouldn’t be taken seriously. “Her fat cat banker donors aren’t worried in the slightest.”

‘Proud I was a Goldwater Girl’

Before she became a Democrat, Clinton was an active member of the conservative Young Republicans.

In 1996, Clinton declared to NPR: “I’m proud I was a Goldwater girl.” Martin interpreted this as Clinton being opposed to equal rights for blacks and other minorities at the height of the civil rights movement amid backlash to the Freedom Rides and Dr. Martin Luther King’s 1963 “I Have A Dream Speech.” Martin described Goldwater as “the Donald Trump of the 1960s,” a frequent comparison during the current election campaign.

When she made the switch to the Democratic Party, Clinton took her conservative agenda with her as she embarked on her political career after college. Along with her husband, the Clintons were key figures in the “New Democrat” movement, led by the Democratic Leadership Council, which pushed the party to the right by adopting the racist and pro-corporate policies that propelled the Republicans to success in the 1980s and early 1990s under presidents Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush.

“Within the DLC, populism was not merely out of favor; it was militantly opposed. The organization had virtually no grassroots supporters; it was funded almost entirely by corporate donors. Its executive council, Dreyfuss reported, was made up of companies that donated at least $25,000 and included Enron and Koch Industries. A list of its known donors includes scores of the United States’ most powerful corporations, all of whom benefit from a Democratic Party that embraces big business and is less reliant on labor unions and the grassroots for support.”

Secretary of state ‘spent her time paving the way for war’ & corporate empire

The Clintons’ journey to becoming darlings of Wall Street and the 1% was far from over when Bill left office, Martin explained. Plans for Hillary’s campaign for political office began almost immediately after Bill’s presidency ended, and the husband-wife team set about using their newfound political status to build power in Washington and grow their wealth.

Between 2007 and 2014, the pair made almost $141 million. And, together, they grew the Clinton Foundation, the family-owned nonprofit that has been repeatedly linked to political corruption and bribery, to new heights of influence. “As Hillary ascends off this corporate sponsorship, the more favors” she gives, Martin suggested.

However, Martin suggested Secretary Clinton’s most enthusiastic support for corporate profits came in her aid to the defense industry and advocacy for more war. Last May, International Business Times revealed that 20 countries which donated to the Clinton Foundation received $165 billion in commercial arms deals, with Saudi Arabia among the top recipients. Sixteen of those countries also received $151 billion in Pentagon-backed arms deals, a dramatic increase over the George W. Bush administration.

Clinton’s support for U.S. warmongering and empire building extended beyond arms deals and into direct lobbying for more war. Her policies destabilized Libya even as she helped France and the United Kingdom divvy up the country’s resources. Martin also noted that she pressured the Obama administration to go to war in Syria and was instrumental in “paving the way” for future war with Iran.

“In every part of the world, from Latin America to Asia, Hillary Clinton has made it clear she will choose the path of death and destruction, every time, no matter the consequences,” Martin said.

Democrats are “going to use fear of the Republican nominee” to encourage voters to to support Clinton, she said, reminding viewers that “we can and should fight both sides.”

Martin also rejected the idea that feminists should support Clinton because she’s a woman: “As a woman I completely reject Hillary’s brand of bourgeois feminism, because it leaves out millions of immigrant women, poor women, and the women under her bombs around the world.”

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